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Themes
''My Immortal'' deals with a number of important, meaningful, adult, and sensitive issues in a mature way (read: in a way that tries, but fails miserably, to be mature). Sex and Sexuality This is the most important theme in the story in that all the characters have sex excessively and orgasm quickly. It is usually referred to as "putting his boy thingy in me" or something equally imbecilic. In the world of My Immortal, spontaneous hook-ups in public are grounds for nothing more than mild annoyance, though some teachers will give you a stern talking to in ALL CAPS, especially if they suffer from headaches. However, other professors will ask students for the loan of a condom, although lack of protection is never a reason to abstain from sex in the My Immortal universe. Bisexuality/Homosexuality Essentially every goff male in the story is bisexual, presumably because the author is a pre-teen girl, which would also explain the numerous Author Notes talking about how hot gay guys are. It's apparently very gross for girls to be lesbians (or have erections) though. Go figure. At one point, Draco claims that both he and Ebony are bisexual'Chapter 8:' I had went out with Vampire (I’m bi and so is Ebony), but Ebony's bisexuality is hard to prove. There are some statements that could be interpreted as Ebony being attracted to women. For example, she describes Willow'Chapter 2: '''Ebony describes Willow as having 'forest-green eyes'. This could just be Tara/Raven trying to sound artsy but poetic descriptions are often used when talking about attractive people. This could be interpreted as Ebony finding Willow attractive. and B'loody Mary'Chapter 8: B'loody Mary is described as having 'crimson eyes like blood'. Again, it could just be artsy language but the implications are there. with poetic language and sometimes comments on the attractiveness of other females.'''Chapter 12: you can’t have those fucking pervs teaching in a school with lots of hot gurlzChapter 12: “You look kawai, girl.” B'loody Mary said sadly. “Fangs (geddit) you do too.”Chapter 14: “Why can’t I just be ugly or plain like all da other girls and preps here except for B’loody Mary, because she’s not ugly or anything.”Chapter 17: “Yah but not as kawaii as you.” I answered sadly cause Willow’s really pretty and everything.Chapter 17: She had a really nice body wif big bobs and everything. However, this could just be: * Tara/Raven attempting to look like good writers by using poetic terms to describe their characters * Ebony talking highly of her friends, which is common * (In Willow's case) Tara trying to get Raven back on her side after they fell out, by praising her character. Ebony/Tara also uses the concept of Tom Rid being 'bisezual' to justify his interest in fashion and makeup.Chapter 17: He said he wud help us wif makeup if he wunted koz he was relly in2 fashin n stuff. (hes bisezual) This makes it seem as if Tara believes that all bisexuals are into that kind of thing. Tara also wants Draco and Harry to get together in the series, accusing J.K. Rowling (the author of Harry Potter) of being "hamophobic" if they don't. However, actual same-sex romance or even sex almost never happens in the story. The focus is usually on Ebony and Draco. When it isn't, it's usually either public and between two characters who are portrayed in a negative light (Snap/Loopin), there's still a girl involved (the orgy near the end of the story), or possibly rape (Snap/Draco), although there is one example of a same-sex pairing that is considered attractive (Voldemort/Hedwig). The author once insulted her flamers as "gay fags". Also, Ebony, the author's self-insert, tells Draco that he probably has AIDS after she realizes that he once dated Vampire, which seems relatively homophobic. Pedophilia The author's own words sum this up best: "c if dis chapter is srupid!1111 it delz with rly sris issus! sp c 4 urself if itz ztupid." True to form, Tara treats the serious, horrific issue of pedophilia very cautiously... by using it as a measurement of how creepy people are. There are apparently no repercussions for sexually harassing 17-year-old girls, however, unless you count that girl pretending to have sent you to "Abkhazian". Bondage/Sadism There is a lot of imagery to do with this theme in the story, despite the author's apparent age. Many of the characters are stated to be sadists. It isn't explicitly described as sexual. However, it may possibly be due to the presumed orgy in one of the later chapters, wherein the characters take turns performing torture curses on Loopin in the midst of the 'action'. Like bisexuality, sadism is probably just part of being 'goffik'. Non-consensual bondage crops up from time to time, and it is carried out by villains. This is somewhat contradictory; when the preps tie up and torture people, it's bad, but, when the goffs do it, it's justified. Ebony has a thing for corsets and leather, which are associated with bondage, but the relationship isn't really stated. The clothes appear to be more to do with a 'goffik' image. Self-harm doesn't appear to have a sexual aspect either, despite the reoccurring imagery and theme of BDSM throughout the series. It can only be assumed that the theme is in My Immortal as part of a goffik image and perhaps to appeal to the author. Psychology Depression Depression is the most represented ailment in My Immortal. It entails the characters doing things in a depressed or suicidal way, such as getting out of bed.Chapter 39: I got up suicidally. It is also represented by people's appearances, often eyes.Chapter 7: I waved to Vampire. Dark misery was in his depressed eyes. Most goffs in My Immortal are stated to have depression. Surprisingly, a lot of the characters said to have it display actual traits of clinical depression. These include having thoughts of self-harm and suicide, being irritable'Chapter 2:' “Do you like Draco?” she asked as we went out of the Slytherin common room and into the Great Hall.'“No I so fucking don’t!” I shouted.' ' , being tearful'Chapter 10:' I started to cry and cry. Draco started to cry too all sensitive., feeling continuously low/not enjoying life'Chapter 3:' Ebony feels depressed and slits one of her wrists before going to a Good Charlotte concert with Draco. GC is one of her favourite bands and Draco is implied to be her crush., among others. However, Tara's presentation of clinical depression is still flawed as it appears to be part of being goffik. None of the afflicted characters take medication or attempt to get professional help, even if some of them have actually attempted suicide. Admittedly, a lot of sufferers find it hard to get help, but the some of the cast of My Immortal just seem to have the label of 'depression' to make them seem 'gothic' and edgy. To clarify, the main cast's depression can have an effect on the plot,Chapter 10: Draco kills himself, leading to him being captured by Voldemort. This arguably the first major event of the story, even if it had little impact on the other chapters. even when it comes to minor events.Ebony and Vampire bump into Mr Norris while chasing Draco, who is having an outburst about something in '''Chapter 21.' However, characters such as B'loody Mary, Diabolo, Dracula, and so on are said to have depression because of their backstories, but this is entirely needless as none of them have any role in the story other than following around Ebony. These characters, as well as more important characters, may have depression as part of being 'real goffs'; a lot of the cast 'got depressed and became gothic'.'Chapter 8:' He had gone through horrible problems, and now he was gothic.'Chapter 8:' Voldemort killed her mother and her father committed suicide because he was depressed about it. She still has nightmares about it and she is very haunted and depressed. Humorously, Tara argues that Ebony cannot be a Mary Sue because she has depression. :''Evony isn’t a Marie Sue ok she isn’t perfect SHES A SATANITS! n she has problemz shes depressed 4 godz sake! However, a lot of Mary Sues are angsty, which is how depression is represented in My Immortal, to the extent where these characters have their own category of Mary Sue: an Angsty Sue or Sympathetic Sue. Overall, while the portrayal of depression in My Immortal is surprisingly accurate sometimes, it is still hard to take seriously due to the nature of the story. Also, it is probably used just to make the characters goffik. Addiction Addiction is briefly touched upon through the character of Profesor Sinister, who suffers from an addiction to Volxemortserum, as an allegory for alcohol. But, other than a heartfelt acknowledgement from Sinister, her dependence on the potion is never truly concerning to the other characters, or to the story itself, only given brief references throughout the rest of the fic. Unlike realistic alcoholism or substance abuse, Sinistor never develops any negative symptoms as a direct result of her addiction. A cure for said addiction is also claimed to be easily available and obtainable, when in real life it would likely take months, or even years, of rehabilitation to overcome one. The inclusion of this issue was likely an insensitive, flaccid attempt by Tara to sound deep by imitating social commentary. Self Injury The idea of self-harm is represented here by the slitting of wrists. Just about every character in the story does this, but since just about every character is a vampire, this otherwise suicidal act of depression becomes a way to get a quick snack of blood before class. Otherwise, it comes across as a social activity performed by the protagonists.Chapter 35: He pinted to a groop of sexxxy gottik guyz. They where siting in a corner kutting.Chapter 36:“OMFS, letz have a groop kutting session!11” said Profesor Trevolry. “I can’t fucking wait 4 dat but we need 2 get sum stuff first.” said Willow. Chapter 39: “OMFG letz celebrate!11” gasped Willow. “We can go c Hose of Wax wif Draco!1” giggled Vampire. “Letz go lizzen 2 GC and kut ourselvz 666!11” said Hermoine. Self-harm is treated with little sensitivity, as can be assumed. Ebony slits her wrists on multiple occasions and the narration portrays it as almost routine, or at least insignificant. :I started to cry and weep. I took a razor and started to slit my wrists. I drank the blood all depressed. Then I looked at my black GC watch and noticed it was time to go to Biology class. The sensitivity in this handling of a serious issues for today's teens is nothing less than what one would expect from an author of Tara's caliber. Suicide Despite the enormous amount of wrist-slitting in the story, only one relevant character (Draco) is able to come close to succeeding at killing himself. It turns out he was just teleported away from Hogwarts by Vlodemort, though. There are no lasting repercussions, emotional scars, or relationship issues from this traumatic event. Occasionally, off-screen characters (various students' fathers, former XBlakXTearX lead singer) are reported to have been able to successfully commit suicide, although they are only given a passing mention.Chapter 22: It turns out that Darkness, Diabolo, Crab and Goyle’s dad was a vampire. He committed suicide by slitting his wrists with a razor.Chapter 35: “But don’t u (referring to XBlakXTearX) have a lead singer!” I asked. Lucian looked dawn sadly. “We uzd to but she did. She contempted suicide by silting her rists.” Murder Numerous murders are committed by many characters throughout the story, but no consequenses seem to come up. This scene is a prime example: :“Kul.” I raised my eye suggestingly. And den………. he tok of my cloves sexily and we started 2 make out. I tok of his shit. He had six-pak justr lik Gerard Way!11 We frenched. :“Xcuze me but u r going 2 have 2 leave!111” shooted da lady behind us she was a prep. :“Fuk u!11” I said. Suddenly…………………. I attaked her suking all her blood. :“Noooooo!11” she screamed. All the preps in da theater screamed but everyone else crapped koz Satan and I loked so cute 2gether. Satan and I started to walk outside. Religion A minor theme. Satanism Every "goff" in the story has either always been Satanist or converted to Satanism. Satanism appears to be treated as part of the characters' goffik identity, thus making it more of a fashion statement than an actual religion. It is often represented by the use of pentagrams and the number 666 on the characters' clothing, vehicles, personal belongings, and so on. Even though Tara seems to enjoy Stanism, she describes it as an imperfection when trying to claim Ebony can't be a Mary Sue. Christianity The story also seems to deal with Christianity in a somewhat negative way. Opposed to Satanism, Christianity seems to be a part of a 'preppy' identity. However, it doesn't play as big a role in the characters' identities as being a satanist, usually being a casual mention. Examples of this include Snap being Christian to serve as a greater enemy to the main cast. :and da reson snap dosent lik harry now is coz hes christian and vampire is a satanist! In addition, Ebony seems to associate it with being a prep. :“OMFG wtf/ Are you giving into the mainstream?” I asked. “So I guess ur a prep or a Christina or what now?” Society The mainstream (preps) vs the unconvential (goffs) Tara doesn't seem to provide intelligent social commentary in My Immortal, ''at least not intentionally. However, her way of dealing with the emo 'goffik' subculture is interesting. Firstly, Ebony, who's a blatant self-insert so probably Tara too, considers shopping anywhere other than Hot Topic as being preppy (although, this is before she discovers Tom Rid's store, which is presumably very similar). :''B’Loody Mairy Nodded ENREGeticALLlY. “Omfg totally lets go shopping.” :“In Hot Topic, right?” I asked, already getting out my spshcial Hot Topic Loiyalty carde. :“No.” My head snaped up. :‘WHAT?” my head spuin. I could not believe it. “B’Loody Mary are u a PREP?” In addition, she considers being truly goffik as listening to certain bands, such as Good Charlotte or My Chemical Romance. For example: :“And he wuz such a fuking poser 2!11” said Lucian. “He didn’t even realy no hu GC were until I told him.” Also, Ebony treats people who don't dress in goffik clothing and share her lifestyle rather badly, exemplified by Britney. This is rather humorous as the whole goff identity and its requirements heavily resemble mainstream society, or the 'prep' identity, as it is known as in My Immortal. Just like wearing certain brands, such as Nike, would make you fashionable in standard western society, wearing Hot Topic products makes you goffik in Tara's creation. 'Preps' and 'posers' in My Immortal are treated with contempt; this mirrors how some people treat people who aren't quite like them, such as the emo subculture, badly in the mainstream. In short, the characters who reject the mainstream create their own convention which is ironically almost exactly like the one they rebel against. In an ideal world, we could probably pass My Immortal off as a clever critique on the hypocrisy of non-standard society, especially if the troll theory is to be believed. Other Tara sometimes takes a jab at society in other ways. :soz 4 soz 4 sayin alzhimers is dongerous but datz da mysteries opinin koz sosiety basically sux. It's pretty much what you'd expect. She doesn't really expand on her opinions. References Category:My Immortal